Food shows up in many different scenarios; as a celebration, within community, for a hunger pain; but most of all, food is our fuel.

Remembering this is key as we navigate down this road together, because I know food can be a touchy subject.

We’ve been given food as a supply for building ourselves each day. It is a gift to benefit us and nourish us throughout life, but the world has skewed it into ruling over us as a release (indulgence) or a master (restriction). Food is a fun and beautiful, but freeing, resource for us, and I hope you can view it that way too.

Enjoyment > Nourishment

If you asked me in college what I ate in a day, it probably would sound something like this:

• For breakfast: a bagel with cream cheese, or maybe an instant oatmeal cup on-the-go. And coffee, always coffee.
• Mid-morning: I’d get hungry for a snack, which was often a granola bar. And also some coffee.
• For lunch: leftover pasta, maybe with a veggie, but often shredded cheese. Anddd I might get another cup of coffee.
• For dinner: a frozen pizza, sometimes without meat.

For a long time, I’ve eaten for pleasure, rather than nourishment. I tried to choose foods that I believed to be healthy, but would still leave myself lacking a lot of nutrients. I thought I could survive off of plain pasta, a baked sweet potato, or just a side salad. These are innocent at first glance, but they lack the sustenance, and mostly protein, my body needs to build. And not to mention how little food each of these are on their own.

If you’ve ever had a meal that filled you up quickly but then found yourself hungry again within an hour or two, there’s a good chance that meal lacked the proper protein to sustain you.

When we choose to eat for nourishment, we find ourselves enduring the day longer; experiencing less “crashes.” When you hit a slump in the afternoon, try a snack and a glass of water. I’ve found that the many times I feel sleepy and lacking in energy, what I need is not another cup of coffee, but rather food (energy) to keep me going. After all, food is fuel.

There’s a plethora of of resources around this, but I’ve loved following Kelsee Moore, and especially, this podcast episode she did with another favorite of mine, Homegrown Education. In this episode, Kelsee highlights the relationship of nutrition to exercise, specifically protein. The key takeaway: eat 1 gram of protein per pound of ideal body weight.

Weigh 195lbs and looking to turn some of it into muscle? Aim for 195 grams of protein. (We often swap excess weight for muscle). Hoping to shed some of that weight off? Consume 175 grams of protein.

Base Your Meals around Protein

This is your starting point. If you eat nothing else, if you struggle to get a full meal in, simply focus on consuming protein. With this as your base, all other foods should fall into place. Once you’ve picked your protein, it’s easier to complement with a veggie or a carb.

Personally, I believe there’s a lot more nutrients to animal-protein (though I understand this isn’t everyone’s preferred choice). Meat contains complete amino acids and vitamins we require. They provide whole, bio-available nutrients that our bodies understand how to break down.

And don’t just go for the lean meats. It’s common belief that fatty foods are unfavorable, and we should avoid them. While it’s important to watch our intake, healthy fats are actually very necessary for your nourishment and absorption of Vitamins A, D, E, and K.

Protein-intake replenishes and nourishes the muscles in our body. If you’re attempting to build muscle, you need to provide additional protein to build that new protein. Hence, the gym rats loading up on protein bars, shakes, and supplements. But protein isn’t just for the athletes; it’s a necessary building block that feeds our muscles, floods us with vitamins, and balances our blood sugar.

Pro-tip: if you’re in a pinch for food and all that’s available is fast food, still prioritize your protein. Aim for the larger pack of nuggets or a double or even triple-stack burger. And get this! Downsize on the fries.

Then Let the Carbs fall into Place

Many foods get a bad wrap nowadays; carbohydrates being a top culprit. While carbs should be managed, they’re not all bad, and you certainly shouldn’t be avoiding them completely. Your body needs energy to keep going, and you don’t want to cut into your protein. (Like we said, protein = muscle). This happens when you don’t have enough carbs readily available for your body to burn so it looks for another resource.

When you give your body carbs, you give it something to burn and utilize other than protein. It’s a quick energy reserve so carbs are great to consume just before an activity. Adding a bit of protein with your carbs will help balance your blood sugar and prevent crashes later on. My husband has been testing this out lately by eating a couple of dates before his run. So far, so good.

Attempt to reach for complex carbohydrates that come from whole foods rather than refined foods. Some of these include sweet potatoes, beans, lentils, rice or quinoa, sometimes fruits, or even fermented grains like sourdough bread.

Believe it or not, we should be adding good fats into our meals every day. Whether it’s choosing whole milk, adding a large pat of salted butter, or loading up on the avocado, intentional choices to add the fat back into our eating habits is vital.

For women, this is crucial because we often aim for lean diets. And did you know hormones are fat-soluble and require fat for their production?

Remember these are heathy fats, or naturally occurring; olive oil, avocado, eggs, beef (tallow). Unfortunately, this is not a pass to upsize the (french fries) or have an extra scoop of ice cream (though you are certainly welcome to), but as I’ve iterated before, providing your body with bio-available nutrients from more whole foods is the route you want to go.

Of course, we can’t talk about eating for nourishment and not mention our fruits and veggies.

Any and all produce is great for you, with numerous vitamins and minerals, but how you consume them can be a game-changer.

Fruit is a great energy-booster with all that sugar (carbs), so they’re great earlier in the day or before a workout.

Certain vegetables are great fresh or sautéed; like bell pepper, onion, arugula, or carrots. Other veggies, such as brussel sprouts, broccoli, and spinach, are best when already “broken down.” Ways of doing this include cooking them down or blending them, such as in a smoothie or soup. This helps the higher fiber content in these vegetables more readily available, or digestible. Smoothies are an excellent way to consume fruits & veggies because you still absorb the fiber, even with the food broken down. Juices are often shunned because of the high amount of sugar contained in them, but a lot of this has to do with the lack of fiber. Fruits were meant to be consumed with the fiber of the fruit because it gives your body something else to work with than just sugar.

Electrolytes (AKA Salt Water)

If you come to my house and see me having a glass of water, you might catch me sprinkling some sea salt into my water. I do this for mineral supplementation, or electrolytes.

Hydration is vital but it won’t get very far without the minerals to absorb it.

When you hydrate, you are really replenishing your electrolytes. And funny enough, filtered water, while it’s rid of unwanted elements, it’s also eliminated of the good minerals in the water so it’s important to re-mineralize. By adding a sprinkle of salt (not table salt), you make these electrolytes available again for your body to absorb and hydrate. After all, when we sweat, don’t we release salt?

My favorites to use are Himalayan pink salt and Maldon salt.

But it’s not about Restriction.

When we deprive ourselves from something, it often turns into us craving it all the more.

Though it’s important to reach for the healthier options, I don’t believe completely excluding things, like pastries or candy, is always the answer (especially if you’ve got a sweet tooth). However, when you eat for nourishment and choose to fuel yourself with more beneficial foods first, desserts and snacks become a bit easier to manage. The idea is keep food as fuel, and then have a treat once in a while. And when you do reach for those treats, still opt for the better ingredients.

Developing long-term habits that are functional come from making small steps that build upon each other. An “all or nothing” mindset can sometimes lead us into overindulgence or “relapse.”

And it’s not about Depletion…

At the same time, when we fail to nourish our bodies well and fully, we leave them craving essential nutrients. Cutting down portions and not consuming enough food forces your body to run on fumes. When your diet consists of energy bars and coffee all day, it’s setting you up to run on stress and constantly living in “fight or flight.” Nourishing your body with all of the correct nutrients, vitamins, and minerals releases your body from “fight or flight” and allows it to repair and replenish.

You were made to thrive off of food. Turn food into your fuel; not your release or master.

What a typical Nourished day would look like:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, bacon/sausage, a bit of yogurt with blueberries

Now, coffee time.

Lunch: salami and a higher-protein cheese, such as Parmesan or Gruyere; with an orange

Snack: jerky or pistachios

Dinner: roasted chicken with asparagus and a few baby potatoes

And if you need dessert, a piece of dark chocolate.

We’re all in this together.

None of this is to point fingers or make you feel defeated; I promise, I’m only eager to give you something beneficial for your soul. These are the facts I’m finding to be an encouraging guide with so much information circling around the internet.

Let me know what was helpful for you!

OG